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Rhode Island students modifying toy cars for kids with disabilities

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LINCOLN, R.I. — Students at a Rhode Island high school are modifying toy cars so kids with disabilities can use them to get around.

The pre-engineering class at Davies Career and Technical High School has partnered with the New England Institute of Technology.

The university paints and prepares the cars before bringing them to the high school, WJAR reports. The students then work to rewire and modify the cars, making them suitable for kids who otherwise couldn’t get around.

“A child that is disabled from, say the waist down, can use their hands in order to drive the car backwards or forwards,” pre-engineering instructor Ed Martins told WJAR.

The students want to help kids with disabilities enjoy their childhoods as much as those without impairments.

“I think it would definitely be a nicer alternative, being able to do things that a normal kid that doesn’t have a disability would be able to do,” student Jayden Medeiros told WJAR.

The lessons learned will carry far beyond the classroom.

“It’s not even about the grade. You’re impacting a young child’s life who’s probably never going to forget that,” said Medeiros.